Adoptable Horses

"Those who hope in the Lord...will soar on wings like eagles."

Isaiah 40:30-32

Adoptable Horses

One of our goals here at Spirit of Hope Farm is to help build positive human-horse relationships through helping the individual find a horse that will meet his or her needs. In this process, we work hard to find good homes for some of our horses that have come here from abusive, neglectful, or perilous situations.

We also hope to dispel the myth that rescued horses are no good. Au Contrair! These horses are living, breathing pillars of amazing fortitude and forgiveness that we humans would do well to mimic! Many times horses come here having been well-trained and cared for in the past but had unfortunate circumstances befall them. Time, patience, good farrier and veterinary care, and some good vittles go a long way to restoring these horses to wonderful riding and companion animals.

Adoption is a great way to gain a new equine friend while helping to provide a great future to a horse in need! We welcome your inquiries about a particular horse or our policies. We also welcome inquiries on fostering our horses awaiting permanent placement!

It is important for potential adopters to understand that these horses sometimes do have special requirements. Some horses may need a particular diet to sustain them while others need a particular kind of setting or a very skilled handler to foster their full recovery. Our goal here is to match each horse with a situation that will be in everyone's best interests. To achieve that end, we require potential adopters to fill out an adoption screening application and provide veterinary, farrier, and personal references.

We also assess an adoption fee for each horse for two very important reasons... 1) to discourage "adoptions" by unscrupulous dealers who will turn them around for meat or resell them for profit to an unwitting buyer; 2) As a test of ownership. Often people call wanting "free" horses. I believe that anyone who expects a horse to be free also expect them to be inexpensive to keep, which is definitely not the case! Also, I believe that if someone does not have any 'investment' in the horse, they will not feel as compelled to take good care of it, which is the same reason banks require homebuyers to put money down on a house! 3) to recoup a small portion of the expenses that we have incurred in that horse's recovery, like veterinary expenses for exams, medications and shots, special feeds, gelding surgeries, teeth floating, Coggin's testing, and farrier work. Without being able to recoup some monies, we simply cannot continue to help horses in need. Our minimum adoption fee is $500, our maximum is $1000.

Not just another pretty face!

Miss Honey came to us with a sad history of severe abuse. We learned that she was beaten by a former owner in the face, which rendered her permanently blind in her left eye. This same horse had to endure the abuser's children throwing rocks and apples at her to make her run because they found it amusing. How sad for her and for society that these people were never punished for what they did to her. But now she is here and safe. The blindness in her left eye does not slow her down and she has full vision in the right eye. Other than her one eye being blind, Honey is quite healthy. She has been fully examined by our vet and given a clean bill of health. Our vet says he thinks she's around 10 years old based on her teeth. She has been vaccinated, de-wormed regularly, has had her feet trimmed routinely, and has a negative Coggins test. Honey is a nice manageable size, about 14.2h and about 900 lbs and we think is a Paso Fino cross. She is gaited! Honey is available for adoption now.

Update: Honey has become quite a love-bug here. She is very easy to work around now as long as you talk to her so she knows where you are in her space. She is not spooky or at all aggressive. What she needs is someone that she can bond with.. we believe that once she has found her "special person" there is nothing that she won't do to please him/her! I think her stout, hearty build will make her a great candidate for team penning, competitive trail, endurance, or all day trail riding. She has been started under saddle with our farrier/trainer, Katharine Horsey who agrees that she will be a nice horse for a calm, quiet, experienced rider who wants to ride in events like competitive trail, team penning, or long trails. She is very smart and will test a new rider, so she is really not suitable for beginner riders.

Last September, we brought Honey to the Benefit Show and she did unbelievably well! She was entered in in-hand and riding classes and did very well in all of them, handling the sights and sounds of a show with curiousity and enthusiasm but was very well behaved! She tried lots of knew things, including the trail class, barrels, and even a jumping course! She placed in all of her classes and even won the water-race and came in second in the egg on a spoon (that cute little shuffling gait of hers came in handy)! Not bad for a horse that has really only been ridden about a dozen times. Big thanks to my dear friend Elisa, who rode her in the show and said, "if I had room in my barn, she'd be in it!" How about you.... do you have room in YOUR barn for a bold, smart horse? Honey would love to have a person of her own to really bring out her best! Adoption fee: $500.

Cutter Late Bar

Cutter Late Bar, also known as "Bear," came to us from a loving home that could no longer afford to keep him. Bear is a handsome 23 year old 15.3h AQHA registered sorrel stallion. He is very well behaved for a stallion, though he does think he is 'all that!' He is up to date on all shots and had his teeth floated but he has significant wear on his molars so he cannot chew hay. In spite of that, he is doing very well on a diet of soaked Hay Stretcher, beet pulp and Carb Guard 3x a day.

April 2008 update: As is our policy, Bear was gelded by Dr. Sherburne and recovered nicely. Now he can begin a new life as a gelding and best of all, no more babies!

August 2009 update: Bear was shown last fall in the Benefit show and placed 2nd in Halter. Not bad for an old man! He was not shown in the riding classes, though, as he was not "in the mood." Since the show, we have seen a considerable progression in the slinking of his back. He was swayed when he got here, but now he is REALLY sway-backed and is starting to show signs of discomfort in his back, so he is not adoptable as a riding horse, only as a companion.

Spirit of Hope Farm Equine Shelter & Rescue

Jen & Jess Winchester
853 Lebanon Rd.
Winterport, ME 04496
(207) 223-5928